Unpublished Plan Already Drawing Fire

President Bush's plan to establish a manned science base on the moon and to send humans to Mars is likely to fail before ever getting off the ground, according to a space advocacy group.

The Lunar Republic Society, which offers lunar land claims for sale over the Internet to raise funds for space exploration, hopes to help finance permanent communities on the moon by 2015. The organization has sold 400,000 acres of such claims since its inception in 1999 and has reportedly received overtures from India and Russia, which both seek financial assistance for future space missions.

"Because of the huge budget deficit the United States has accumulated over the last three years, the United States doesn't have the billions of dollars necessary to develop such a program from scratch," said David Ferrell Jackson, the managing director of the Lunar Republic Society. "Unless Americans want to see their schools closed and their police officers and firemen laid off, this program is doomed from the start."

According to a number of media reports, the president's space policy speech will include long-range plans for a manned scientific habitat on the moon and a human journey to Mars. Details of the plan will reportedly be disclosed this week.

Critics of the Bush plan suggest the president's announcement is merely a political move timed to take advantage of excitement over recent pictures taken by the Mars rover Spirit.

"The American people are excited about the success of Spirit, and rightfully so," Jackson said. "While we're pleased to hear that the president is interested in the space program, the Lunar Republic Society expects his dedication to fade as soon as pictures of Mars are gone from the front page of the daily newspaper."

Their Way Is the Only Way

Jackson says a program based around privatized funding through the sale of lunar land claims is the only plan that makes sense--which just happens to be what his group is promoting.

"A privatized program is democratic and international, it generates economic growth in America and abroad, and it is immune from petty political gamesmanship," Jackson said.

FMI: www.lunarrepublic.com, www.lunarregistry.com